Chapter 62 062
Chapter 62
Thalia's POV
Iris called another emergency meeting at dawn.
Everyone gathered looking exhausted and worried. The message Varian had left changed everything. This wasn't just surveillance anymore. It was a direct threat.
"We need to make a decision now," Iris started. "Varian isn't going to just watch and wait. He's escalating."
"Then we give him what he wants," the older man from yesterday announced. His name was Thomas and he'd made his position clear from the start. "We send them back and this ends."
"We already voted on this," Connor argued.
"That was before he left threats on our borders. Before he made it clear he's willing to come after us. The situation has changed."
"The situation is exactly what it was yesterday," Iris countered. "Varian wants Thalia and Elena. We knew that. A carved message doesn't change the fundamental question."
"It changes the urgency," a woman named Sarah spoke up. She'd voted to let us stay yesterday but now looked uncertain. "My children live here. I'm not willing to risk their safety for strangers."
"No one's asking you to risk your children," Lily snapped. "We're asking you to stand by a decision the community already made."
"I'm allowed to change my mind when new information comes in."
The arguing started up again. Louder and angrier than yesterday. I watched people who'd defended us hours ago start to waver. Watched the group fracture in real time.
"Stop," my mother finally shouted. "Just stop this. You're tearing yourselves apart over us and we're not worth it."
"Elena—" I started.
"No, Thalia. Look at them. This community has existed peacefully for fifteen years and in one week we've destroyed that. We need to leave."
"If you leave, where will you go?" Marcus asked.
"I don't know. Somewhere far enough that Varian won't connect us to Haven. Somewhere we can disappear."
"There is nowhere like that," Connor stated flatly. "Varian has resources and determination. He'll find you eventually. Running just delays the problem."
"At least it's our problem then and not yours," my mother shot back.
Iris held up her hands for quiet. "Everyone calm down. We're not making any decisions while we're all emotional and scared. We take the morning to think. We reconvene at midday with clear heads."
"Clear heads won't change the fact that an Alpha is threatening us," Thomas muttered.
"No, but they might help us find a solution besides just giving in to his demands."
The meeting broke up. People dispersed in small groups, still arguing. My mother and I walked back to the cabin alone.
"You can't seriously want to just turn ourselves over to Varian," I challenged once we were inside.
"I want to stop putting innocent people in danger."
"These people voted to let us stay. They knew the risk."
"They voted before the risk became real. Now they're scared and they have every right to be." My mother sat down heavily. "Maybe Cyrus was right. Maybe trying to exist outside pack protection was always going to fail."
"Don't say that. Don't let Varian win by making you believe you need an Alpha to survive."
"I don't need an Alpha. But I need my daughter to be safe. And right now nowhere is safe because Varian won't stop until he gets what he wants."
"So we just give him what he wants? Let him control us for the rest of our lives?"
"I don't know what else to do."
I wanted to argue more but I was too tired. Tired of running. Tired of fighting. Tired of watching people suffer because I refused to submit.
Beth appeared at our door an hour later. Somehow she'd made the trip from Greystone overnight.
"Ruth sent me," she explained when we let her in. "She heard from Elena's message that you'd reached Haven. Then she heard rumors about Varian's wolves in the area. She wanted me to check on you."
"How did you find us?" I asked.
"Followed the directions in Samuel's letter. Plus asked around at a few settlements along the way." Beth looked between us. "What happened? You both look awful."
We told her everything. About Haven, the vote, Varian's message, the community splitting over whether to keep us.
Beth listened without interrupting. When we finished, she was quiet for a moment.
"You're thinking about leaving," she finally observed.
"My mother is. I don't know what I'm thinking anymore."
"Well, I know what I'm thinking. You're both idiots if you walk away from the first place that actually stood up for you."
"They're reconsidering," my mother pointed out. "Half of them want us gone."
"Half wanted you gone from the start. The other half voted to keep you even knowing the risk. That counts for something."
"It counts for nothing if Varian attacks and people die because we were too stubborn to leave."
Beth turned to me. "What do you want to do? Not what you think you should do. What do you actually want?"
"I want to stay. I want to fight. I'm tired of letting Varian chase me from place to place like I'm his property."
"Then stay and fight."
"It's not that simple," my mother interjected. "It's not just about what Thalia wants. Other people's lives are at stake."
"Other people who are adults capable of making their own choices," Beth countered. "You're not forcing anyone to protect you. They're choosing to."
"Some of them are. Others are being pressured by community loyalty to go along with a decision they don't agree with."
"That's how communities work. Not everyone agrees on everything but they stick together anyway."
We argued in circles for another hour without reaching any conclusions. Finally Beth stood up.
"I'm going to talk to this Iris person. Get a sense of what Haven is actually capable of if Varian does attack."
"Why?" I asked.
"Because if you're staying, I want to know you're not just waiting around to get captured. I want to know there's an actual plan."
She left before either of us could respond.
My mother looked at me. "You really want to stay?"
"I really want to stop running. Whether that's the same thing, I don't know yet."
"If we stay and Haven gets attacked, people could die. You understand that?"
"I understand. But if we leave and Haven gets attacked anyway because Varian doesn't want them harboring fugitives in the future, people die then too. We're not the ones making threats here. Varian is."
"That distinction won't matter much to families who lose people."
"No, it won't. But it's still true."
Beth returned an hour later with Iris, Marcus, Connor, and Lily.
"We need to talk strategy," Iris announced. "Beth tells me you're considering leaving to protect Haven. I'm here to tell you that's not necessary and possibly not even helpful."
"How is it not helpful?" my mother demanded. "We're the reason Varian is threatening you."
"You're the current reason. But Marcus has been thinking about the larger implications." Iris gestured for Marcus to explain.
"Varian knowing about Haven is a permanent problem," Marcus began. "Even if you leave, he knows we exist. He knows our location and our numbers. If he's the kind of Alpha who sees independent wolf communities as a threat to pack authority, we're on his radar now regardless of whether you're here."
"So what are you suggesting?" I asked.
"I'm suggesting that whether you stay or go, we need to prepare for potential conflict with Varian. Which means your presence doesn't actually change our strategic situation that much."
"Except that if we're here, he has a specific demand he can make," my mother pointed out. "Hand us over or face consequences. If we're gone, he has no leverage."
"He has plenty of leverage," Connor corrected. "He can threaten trade routes. He can pressure other packs to isolate us. He can attack our borders. Removing you removes one option but it doesn't remove his ability to cause problems."
Iris sat down at our table. "Here's what I'm proposing. You stay. We prepare defenses. We reach out to other independent communities and warn them about Varian's aggression. And we make it clear to him that Haven isn't backing down."
"That's basically declaring war," my mother stated.
"No, it's setting boundaries. War is if he actually attacks and we defend ourselves."
"You're splitting hairs."
"Maybe. But the alternative is living in fear of what Alphas might do. That's not why Haven was created."
I looked at my mother. She looked exhausted and defeated.
"What do you think?" I asked her quietly.
"I think we've caused enough problems. But I also think Beth and Iris might be right that leaving doesn't actually solve anything."
"So we stay?"
She was quiet for a long moment. "We stay. But if people die because of this decision, I'm never going to forgive myself."
"None of us will," Iris agreed. "But we make the best choice we can with the information we have."
After they left, my mother and I sat in silence.
"I hope we're doing the right thing," she finally whispered.
"So do I."
But neither of us was convinced we were.
And the message Varian had left on the border kept echoing in my head.
"Return what's mine."
He saw me as property. As something that belonged to him that had been stolen.
And he was coming to take back what he thought was his.
The only question was when and how much damage he'd do in the process.